The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) should be read in conjunction with which primary rules?

• A. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
• B. National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM)
• C. Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)
• D. Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requirements

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that DFARS is a DoD-specific addition to the broad set of federal procurement rules. The Federal Acquisition Regulation provides the baseline rules that govern government acquisitions across the entire federal government. DFARS sits on top of those rules, detailing DoD-specific clauses, procedures, and requirements that supplement and sometimes modify FAR provisions for defense acquisitions. Because of this close relationship, you must read DFARS in conjunction with FAR to understand exactly what is required: the FAR framework shows the standard procurement requirements, and DFARS adds the DoD-specific protections, conditions, and implementation details that apply to DoD contracts. Many DFARS provisions explicitly reference or rely on FAR clauses, so understanding the DoD-specific rules makes sense only when you first know the general FAR rules they build upon.

NISPOM focuses on industrial security for cleared facilities, and FISMA deals with information security management across federal agencies. While both are important in their domains, they do not provide the primary governing framework for interpreting defense procurement regulations.